Chief Cathy L. Lanier. Source: Washington Metropolitan Police Department
An ax-wielding man attacked a police officer driving a marked car at 3 a.m. today in an ambush, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department is reporting via Twitter and Facebook under the signature of Chief Cathy L. Lanier.
The officer was not injured by the ax, but was injured in the “attempted apprehension,” the department said. “He will be OK.”
“The axe shattered the [car] window,” the department said, noting the suspect escaped after struggling with the officer.
Police described the suspect as a “black male, 6’-1” to 6’-2” with a stocky build.”
Investigators have leads, the department said.
News of the attack in Washington came just a day after a Pennsylvania man accused of gunning down a state trooper in an ambush and seriously wounding another trooper was arrested after a 48-day manhunt.
The Washington attack occurred in the Fifth District. The department’s website says the Fifth District is in the northeastern quadrant of the city and includes a “diverse mix of neighborhoods, including Brookland, Ivy City, Trinidad and Woodridge.” The National Arboretum is situated in the district.
Here is the full statement of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department as published minutes ago on Facebook (italics added):
By now, I am sure most of you have heard that we had an officer attacked by a person with an axe, while patrolling in his marked police car around 0300 hours this morning in the Fifth District. Most importantly, however, the officer did not sustain injuries from the axe. Rather, his injuries resulted from an attempted apprehension, and he will be OK.
Specific to this attack, the Fifth District officer was on patrol when he noted a suspicious person and went to investigate the situation. The suspicious person avoided the officer by entering an alley. The officer then entered the alley in his marked car and was ambushed by the person with the axe. The axe shattered the window, but did not strike the officer. The officer gave chase and caught up with the suspect, but after a brief struggle, he was able to escape.
As of now we have a general lookout for a black male, 6’-1” to 6’-2” with a stocky build. We have several leads that we are following up on at this point, but the investigation continues.
Lately, we have been putting out a lot of information to the force in regard to remaining vigilant at all times. While we do not have any information at this point on the motivation surrounding today’s attack, this situation underscores the need to always maintain a very high level of situational awareness while we are working. Recent incidents targeting uniformed law enforcement officers in Quebec, New York City, and now to one our own here in Washington, D.C. are reminders that we must always be ready for any eventuality. I encourage all members to maintain a high awareness of your environment, and to always notify the dispatcher of the location when investigating or entering suspicious situations.
Chief Lanier.
By now, I am sure most of you have heard that we had an officer attacked by a person with an axe, while… http://t.co/yAppay1gu2
On April 13, 2013, a 70-year-old common man named Tom Menino had surgery. The procedure entailed the “placement of a plate and screws to repair the spiral fracture of [his] right fibula.” The break had occurred near the ankle.
Two days later, on April 15, Menino was still in the hospital. Sometime shortly after 2:49 p.m. on that date, he checked himself out.
You see, Tom Menino, the common man who sometimes mangled the English language and spent plenty of time with immigrants and others who could do the same, was the mayor of Boston. And an unknown person or persons had just detonated two bombs near the finish line of the world-famous Boston Marathon. Three people enjoying their freedom were killed. An estimated 264 were wounded, some gruesomely. A police officer who later encountered the suspects in Cambridge also would die. Other police officers engaged them in a ferocious gun battle on the streets of Greater Boston. The suspects lobbed Improvised Explosive Devices at the cops.
All Americans of a certain age will remember where they were and what they were doing when terrorists turned Beantown into a war zone on Patriot’s Day. I was researching and reporting on the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme, when the first bulletins hit the airwaves and the Internet.
Barely familiar with the mayor, I did not know at first that he had been in the hospital and had been experiencing great pain; I remember wondering why he was in a wheelchair. For many Americans, the aftermath of the bombings provided their first introduction to Tom Menino. Prior to today, his name had appeared on the PP Blog only once — through a repeated Tweet. “We got him.”
As the AP, via Fox News, reminded America yesterday: “At an interfaith service three days after the bombings, Menino, in a symbolic act of personal defiance, painfully pulled himself to his feet from his wheelchair to declare that no act of violence could break Boston’s spirit.”
The mayor was the personification of “Boston strong,” a phrase in use again yesterday in the highest of places:
The Red Sox with the President on April 1, 2014. Source: White House video.
The collapse of TelexFree into a pile of alleged Ponzi- and pyramid rubble would come 10 days later, with potentially hundreds of thousands of people who didn’t speak perfect English as the victims. The April 3 editorial recounted how distressed TelexFree affiliates had wedged themselves into the purported “opportunity’s” office in Marborough, Mass., on April 1. On that very day, the Boston Red Sox had been invited to the White House to receive accolades from the President of the United States for winning the 2013 World Series. The Blog published a screen shot of the team from the ceremony’s happiest moment.
But there also were serious moments, such as when President Obama recalled how Boston and the nation felt during the terrible hours of the marathon bombing and all that ensued.
Obviously, all the wins were sweet for Red Sox fans, but I think for the nation as a whole there was something about this particular squad that was special and will go down in history — not just not just because they went from worst to first, but because they symbolized the grit and the resilience of America’s — one of America’s iconic cities during one of its most difficult moments.
Nearly one year ago, hundreds of thousands gathered on a beautiful spring day to run and cheer the historic Boston Marathon. But a senseless act of terror turned celebration into chaos, and joy into anguish. Four young people lost their lives. Hundreds were injured. The city was rocked. But under the guiding hand of somebody who I consider one of the finest public servants that America has known, Mayor Tom Menino of Boston, who is here today, and his lovely wife.
Boston stood resolute and unbowed and unbroken. And as the smoke cleared, we gained inspiration from the injured who gamely tackled their recovery — those who are running and walking again, including the young woman who has returned to professional dancing with a prosthetic leg. And we took heart from the first responders who put their lives at risk and bravely ran toward danger — people like Officer Richard Donahue of the MBTA Transit Police, who was shot and nearly killed that night. After months of rehab, Richard is walking again and keeping up with his 18-month-old son, and we’re so proud to have Richard here today.
Here is another frame from that April 1 video. The baseball executives and players are clapping. What you can’t see in the frame is the recipient of the applause. It is Tom Menino, who, like New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Sept. 11, 2001, suddenly had become America’s mayor.
Red Sox executives and players applaud Mayor Menino at the White House on April 1, 2014. Source: White House video.
A statement yesterday by the President of the United States (italics added):
Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Menino. Bold, big-hearted, and Boston strong, Tom was the embodiment of the city he loved and led for more than two decades. As Boston’s longest-serving mayor, Tom helped make his hometown the vibrant, welcoming, world-class place it is today. His legacy lives on in every neighborhood he helped revitalize, every school he helped turn around, and every community he helped make a safer, better place to live. I had a chance to speak with Tom’s wife, Angela, yesterday, and today our thoughts and prayers are with her, with the entire Menino family, and with the people of Boston who Tom loved so much, and who loved him in return.
A statement yesterday by Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States (italics added):
Jill and I were saddened to hear of the passing of our good friend, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Tommy was our friend for a long, long time, and he was without a doubt one of the finest Mayors this nation has ever seen. His heart was always as big as the city he loved. And he was, to his core, the very definition of Boston Strong. Unyielding. Absolutely committed.
The poet R. G. Ingersoll could have been describing Tommy when he wrote:
“When the will defies fear;
When duty throws the gauntlet down to fate;
When honor scorns compromise with death – – this is heroism!”
In the days following the Boston Marathon bombing Tommy was heroic. He was calm in the face of uncertainty, and resolute as the whole world watched.
Even as he should have been in bed, Tommy stood tall, marching through the streets of Boston with a Louisville Slugger for a walking stick. He was determined to protect the people of his city, whether from high profile tragedies like the bombing or the everyday tragedies of gun violence as a leading member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
It was an honor to work with Tommy on the investments that improved Boston’s neighborhoods, schools, housing and infrastructure. The “Menino Way” is evident in every park, every school, and every corner of Boston that emerged safer, cleaner, and stronger than before.
His legacy will live on in the city he loved, and in the example he set for public servants everywhere.
Boston’s first Italian-American Mayor earned what my mother always said was the highest compliment we Irish can give: He was a good man.
All of America is proud of you, Mr. Mayor, a common man of uncommon qualities, the Boston Strong-est of them all.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (Updated 6:37 a.m. EDT Oct. 31 U.S.A.) Eric Frein, the man accused of ambushing two state troopers under cover of darkness outside their barracks in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, has been captured after a 48-day manhunt, Gov. Tom Corbett announced on Twitter.
Frein, 31, became one of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives after allegedly shooting one trooper to death and wounding a second one on Sept. 12.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Frein was captured by the U.S. Marshals Service near or in an abandoned airport hangar in northeast Pennsylvania. Frein, a purported survivalist, apparently hid in the Pocono Mountains after the attack.
BULLETIN: New court filings today in the Western District of North Carolina show that the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case has sued 26 alleged “net winners” in Canada.
Each of the defendants allegedly received at least $50,000, according to filings by receiver Kenneth D. Bell.
“We know of at least one victim who borrowed, I think, $50,000 from his mother and gave it all to [TelexFree]. And it was her entire retirement.” — Melissa Armstrong, assistant chief litigation counsel, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oct. 29, 2014
Melissa Armstrong of the SEC at an FTC event today. Source: FTC video.
UPDATED 12:19 P.M. EDT OCT. 30 U.S.A. Affinity fraud was one of the topics at an all-day symposium today at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The event was titled, “Fraud Affects Every Community.”
Melissa Armstrong, assistant chief litigation counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was one of the featured speakers. Her topic was the SEC’s pyramid- and Ponzi case against TelexFree and how TelexFree was a form of affinity fraud.
In her view, Armstrong said, some TelexFree promoters exploited members of the Dominican and Brazilian communities.
And, she told the audience, the scheme spread over YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and though local pitchfests.
“They sold a version of the American dream that was [meant] to appeal to recent immigrants,” she said.
Over time, Armstrong said, TelexFree gathered “hundreds of millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of promoters. It had promised to pay them back to the tune of [about] $5 billion.”
“The message was always consistent: You could go from having nothing to having it all in a very short time with this program,” she said. “The organizers would travel from city to city.”
Organizers “were given the rock-star treatment,” she said. Recruiters provided “testimonials.”
And, she said, “training centers were nothing more than recruitment centers.”
“Ministers” of church congregations helped the scam spread, Armstrong said.
Armstrong also touched on TelexFree’s April 2014 bankruptcy filing. And, without mentioning TelexFree co-owner Carlos Wanzeler by name, she said he “fled to Brazil” and now faces criminal charges in the United States.
Former TelexFree President James Merrill also faces criminal charges.
The SEC now has a “newly established pyramid-scheme task force,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong’s remarks begin at about the 4:22 mark below.
More information on the “Fraud Affects Every Community” FTC symposium, including the roster of speakers and topics, is available here.
Topics:
Welcome/Introduction
A Look at the Marketplace for Different Communities
How and Why Fraud Affects Different Communities
Getting More Specific: Community Case Studies on Fraud
Education and Community Outreach: An Open Discussion
“Past experience tells us that periods of uncertainty or fear are prime time for con artist looking to make a quick score,” said William Beatty, NASAA president and Washington Securities director. “Investors should approach with caution any unsolicited Ebola-related investment opportunities, especially those received through the Internet.”
NASAA’s membership consists of the securities administrators of all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the provinces and territories of Canada and Mexico. Working across borders, the association’s membership was instrumental in warning the public last year about the Profitable Sunrise scheme that targeted Christian investors.
Individual NASAA members routinely file actions against scams of all stripes and publish warnings about them.
On the Ebola front, NASAA said “an analysis of Internet domain names by state and Canadian securities regulators found nearly 1,200 domains with ‘Ebola’ in their name have been registered with top-level domains, such as .com, .net, .org since April 2014.
“About 1,000 of those registration have occurred since July, as awareness of the crisis spread,” NASAA continued. Of these sites, 184 were identified by NASAA’s Internet Fraud Investigations project group as suspicious.”
Jake van der Laan, the director of enforcement for the New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Commission, is chair of NASAA’s Internet Fraud Investigations project group.
“Our system identified a number of sites that may be suspect,” van der Laan said. “Although we have not investigated any of these sites, a review of domain names indicates that there certainly appear to be those intent on raising Ebola-related funds or otherwise trying to leverage the crisis for financial gain.”
BehindMLM.com reported on Sept. 25 that at least two MLM or direct-sales firms or affiliates had caught the attention of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Ebola-related treatment claims.
For its part, NASAA said it is concerned that securities scams will follow the public’s general concerns about Ebola.
“Pie in the sky promises of quick wealth generally are red flags signaling fraud ahead,” Beatty said.
As the PP Blog reported on May 15, Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin sued the Wings Network MLM “program” and some of its promoters, alleging securities violations and a “thinly veiled pyramid scheme” targeting minority communities.
Now, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller has published a warning on Wings Network, saying the online “program” even is being sold “door-to-door” and is targeting Spanish and Portuguese prospects.
Miller is encouraging residents of Nevada who have information on Wings Network to contact his Securities Division here or by calling 702-486-2440.
“It is vital that every investor conduct the most thorough due diligence possible when making an investment,” Miller said in a statement. “Investing is a complicated and risky process. Even the initial receipt of interest payments or distributions paid to some investors, or an investment sold by someone you know, doesn’t guarantee that an investment is legitimate. A Ponzi scheme may have similar attributes. Potential investors just can’t be careful enough. And always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Secretary of State Ross Miller warns Nevadans to beware of a possibly fraudulent investment scheme targeting minority communities, specifically Spanish and Portuguese. Wings Network is a multi-level marketing program that is advertising online, and being sold door-to-door or through friends and relatives.
Wings Network offers investors various packages ranging from $49 to $1,499. The “Elite” package purportedly requires an investor to purchase the package for $1,499, pay an activation fee of $49, and recruit two additional people to buy the package. The seller then allegedly promises that the investor is guaranteed to receive a minimum of $750 per month for one year afterward.
Investors may be told that Wings Network is associated with smartphone applications compatible with Google Play and Apple. Individuals who purchase the “Elite” package gain access to the Wings Network website, which provides them with information related to their purchase. Wings Network is allegedly associated with Tropikgadget FZE located in the United Arab Emirates.
The Secretary of State’s Securities Division believes Wings Network’s proposed business opportunity is an investment contract and a security that should be, but isn’t, registered with the State of Nevada. Some multi-level marketing programs may be structured in such a way that they constitute a security and should be registered as such. Miller cautions individuals not to buy or sell packages from Wings Network without conducting thorough research and seeking independent legal advice.
Although the dotcom landing page for WingsNetwork appears not to be loading properly at least in the United States, other pages on the site continue to be accessible from the United States. The PP Blog today observed the flags of the United States, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany and Russia on the site. WingsNetwork subdomains with Wings Network affiliate pitches that point prospects to YouTube promos and lead-capture pages also were observed.
In addition, the Blog observed a specific domain named a respondent in the Massachusetts action — WingsNetworkGlobal.com — that appears to have been repurposed by a onetime Wings Network affiliate to drive traffic to a video pitch for something called “The Millionaire’s Brain.”
“Listen,” a male narrator intones. “You’re skeptical. You’ve heard big claims before and they didn’t pan out. I get it.”
Opportunity-hopping is a frequent occurrence in MLM or direct-sales programs. Some affiliates of such programs proceed from fraud scheme to fraud scheme to fraud scheme.
Research suggests that the WingsNetworkGlobal domain previously was used to promote alleged scams such as TelexFree and WCM777, both of which were sued by the SEC and became the subjects of regulatory actions by the Massachusetts Securities Division.
The TelexFree probe continues in the United States, with prosecutors revealing today that federal agents served a search warrant on Google on Oct. 16 that sought a “substantial amount” of content on YouTube.
Precisely what content prosecutors are seeking was not immediately clear.
Google told agents that “compliance will take several weeks,” according to the prosecution filing.
Regulators have warned for years that HYIP scams are spreading through promos on social media such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Today’s prosecution filing also revealed that undercover agents attended multiple TelexFree functions, not just a conference in Boston in March.
In the government’s possession, prosecutors said, are “[v]arious recordings made by undercover [Homeland Security Investigations] agents at TelexFree conferences and in conversations with a TelexFree promoter.”
The information eventually will be provided through discovery, prosecutors said.
The office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts is leading the TelexFree probe.
According to today’s prosecution filing, other material pending processing and production for discovery includes:
About 40 boxes of documents seized from TelexFree’s offices in Marlborough, Mass., in April 2014. These materials are being scanned and processed by a vendor, a process that will take several weeks.
About 81 gigabytes of data (about 355,000 pages) received in October 2014 from the Trustee supervising TelexFree’s affairs in bankruptcy. (PP Blog note: Stephen B. Darr is the court-appointed TelexFree trustee.)
Additional financial records received from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission pursuant to an access request, and from Homeland Security Investigations, totaling approximately 12 boxes of material.
The results of five email search warrants served on or about Sept 25, 2014. As of this date, the government has only received materials for one of the email accounts and is following up with the other internet service providers.
Through the discovery process so far, according to the prosecution filing, the government has “produced an electronic database containing most of the data and records the government has collected via subpoena while investigating this case (about 100,000 pages). The government has also made several productions of additional material in response to specific requests from counsel, including all bank and brokerage records, and has made available the electronic evidence seized during execution of search warrants in April 2014.”
In the aftermath of last week’s attacks on Canadian soldiers, the Canadian Parliament and New York City police officers, Secretary Jeh Johnson of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued this statement today (italics added):
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Today I am announcing that I have directed the Federal Protective Service to enhance its presence and security at various U.S. Government buildings in Washington DC and other major cities and locations around the country. The precise actions we are taking and the precise locations at which we will enhance security is law-enforcement sensitive, will vary and shift from location to location, and will be continually re-evaluated.
The Federal Protective Service is responsible for the protection of over 9500 federal facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration, through which 1.4 million visitors and occupants pass daily.
We are taking this action as a precautionary step, to safeguard U.S. government personnel and facilities, and the visitors to those facilities. The reasons for this action are self-evident: the continued public calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on the homeland and elsewhere, including against law enforcement and other government officials, and the acts of violence targeted at government personnel and installations in Canada and elsewhere recently. Given world events, prudence dictates a heightened vigilance in the protection of U.S. government installations and our personnel.
As we have stated in prior advisories, we urge state and local governments and their law enforcement personnel, along with critical infrastructure owners and operators, to be equally vigilant, particularly in guarding against potential small-scale attacks by a lone offender or a small group of individuals. Likewise, we continually urge the public at large to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to appropriate authorities.
Reports in Thai media say Song Migui, a Chinese man and purported philanthropist, was arrested in Bangkok and will be transported to Phuket to answer charges he and others swindled 9 billion baht and allegedly operated a cross-border fraud empire.
The sum is the equivalent of about $277 million.
PhuketWan, which says its is a tourism publication, reports that Migui also is known as Zhang Jian and declared himself “the future richest man” prior to his arrest.
Migui attracted attention earlier this year with an asserted gift of 30 million baht ($924,000) to a Buddhist temple, PhuketWan reports.
From PhuketWan (italics added):
At the time of the massive donation, Song Migui said that he was the proud and prosperous owner of an IT software company. Police nabbed him in Bangkok after the Anti-Money Laundering Office became involved in examining his unusual wealth. Song Migui was on a blacklist in China, investigators discovered.
Elsewhere, NationMultimedia.com is reporting that Thai police are seeking to identify victims of the scheme.
4th UPDATE 8:09 A.M. EDT OCT. 30 U.S.A. In the past several hours, Tweets sourced to Bitcoin-themed publications such as CoinFire, CryptoCoinsNews and CoinTelegrah claim the SEC has opened preliminary inquiries into hundreds of Bitcoin-themed enterprises.
On the CoinTelegraph website, the publication asserts there is a “gag order attached to these requests for voluntary cooperation.”
For starters, there appears to be no independent corroboration from the SEC of the inquiries. None may be forthcoming, given that early inquiries — if they exist — are not public by design. Moreover, references to a “gag order” may be a misinterpretation of a phrase the SEC uses when opening preliminary inquiries. Using boilerplate language, the SEC typically informs the subjects of the inquiries that “This investigation is confidential and non-public.”
The language is designed to protect both the recipient’s interests and the SEC’s. So, if the claim that a “gag order” has been issued is hung around the boilerplate language concerning the confidential nature of SEC inquiries at this early stage, it very well may mean the “gag order” claim is incorrect.
On the whole, though, we’d say the odds the SEC wants to look down certain Bitcoin-themed rabbit holes are very high — notwithstanding the fact that the PP Blog cannot confirm the Twitter claims about the inquiries.
It is obvious that Bitcoin-themed HYIPs are operating. Another area of obvious concern: Are Bitcoin-themed enterprises running crowdfunding scams?
One thing to look for as this situation evolves is crackpot “defenses” of everything Bitcoin. In response to the Tweets and coverage on Bitcoin-themed publications of the asserted SEC inquiries, some such defenses already have surfaced. One poster on CryptoCoinsNews, for example, appears to be advancing a conspiracy theory that the SEC is trying to dupe recipients of the asserted inquiry letters into confessing jurisdiction.
In the Comments thread, the poster suggests that recipients of the asserted inquiries should respond as such (italics added):
“I _______ (state your name), present myself in pro pria persona for a special appearance, as to be distinguished from a general appearance and respectfully ask [the court to direct the prosecution] to prove for and on the record all elements of jurisdiction binding me to perform in any way whatsoever.”
The problem with such a response is that it comes off sounding like so much “sovereign citizen” poppycock that it has the potential to subject to additional scrutiny those who’d adopt the guidance. Beyond that, even if the inquiries actually are taking place, no court appears to be involved at this time and it’s already clear that the SEC has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to securities.
Other “defenses” suggest the SEC is sending out a squad of “goons” to make it hard for companies to do business and that the SEC is interfering in “contracts” between consenting adults.
For whatever reason, various “defenders” of online “opportunities” have adopted a bizarre narrative that more or less asserts that all commerce is lawful as long as the parties entering a contract agree that it is lawful. Such constructions, however, would legalize murder-for-hire, terrorism plots, extortion, human trafficking, selling narcotics to school children and many other pursuits society rejects.
Simply put, there are a lot of holes in claims that all commerce is lawful as long as the parties agree that it is lawful. Such constructions would mean that John Q. Bloodthirsty Political Extremist could enter into a contract with Carlos the Jackal to plant a car bomb designed to kill innocents in France — and no government or no person could do anything about it, including maimed survivors who never agreed to be disfigured at the hands of the contracted parties.
It is no more lawful to operate an HYIP or crowdfunding scam that involves Bitcoin than one that involved Liberty Reserve, alleged to have helped criminals launder $6 billion.
